The present invention is a security and tracking system to prevent the unauthorized use or access to a device having at least two hydraulic circuits that remotely directs hydraulic fluid about a bypass hydraulic circuit thereby eliminating the possibility of unauthorized use of hydraulic components of certain heavy machinery and providing for a means of tracking and monitoring same.
The inventor has been in the automotive electric and security industry for over 25 years and has witnessed the evolution in security and monitoring devices in both the commercial and consumer sectors of the automotive industry. As the owner of a small business, the inventor intimately understands the need for preventing the unauthorized use of company equipment as well as the need for a reliable means of tracking the location and monitoring of the same. After hearing colleagues complain about their employees using company equipment to subsidize “after-hour second jobs,” the inventor realized that this problem had not been adequately addressed.
Certain industries, including, the towing, wrecker, and construction industries rely heavily on the use of machinery that includes hydraulic circuitry to operate certain components necessary to achieve the goals in the respective industry, i.e. the towing and wrecker industry relies heavily on the use of hydraulic circuitry to operate the hydraulic lifts on tow trucks and flat bed transport vehicles necessary to transport disabled or damaged vehicles. Such machinery has a limited operating life that decreases as the machinery is used. As the machinery has a finite life expectancy, an owner of such machinery can maximize its benefits by limiting the use of the machinery solely to “on the clock” authorized use. Conversely, the “off the clock” unauthorized use of any such machinery has a quantifiable detrimental effect on the return on investment for the machinery in question.
As it is customary in the industry for employees to have unfettered access to the company's tow trucks, wreckers, or other such equipment, it is very difficult for owners of such companies to monitor the actions of their employees with respect to the company's equipment.
In order to address this problem the inventor invented the present invention, specifically a security and tracking system to prevent unauthorized use or access to a company's hydraulic equipment. The present invention comprises essentially of a rerouting device, that comprises inter alia, a selective re-directional valve and a check valve housed in a tamperproof casing that can be remotely activated and monitored using wireless signal technology to direct hydraulic fluid to at least two hydraulic circuits, a control center that communicates via wireless signal technology to the rerouting device, a first hydraulic circuit that comprises a source of fluid, a fluid pumping means, the rerouting device, and a power take off device (PTO) and a second hydraulic circuit that comprises the source of fluid, the fluid pumping means, and the rerouting device.
In normal operation, when the present invention is installed into a piece of machinery having hydraulic components, hydraulic fluid circulates about the second hydraulic circuit comprising the source of fluid, the fluid pumping means, and the rerouting device.
However, when the rerouting device is activated via wireless signal technology, the hydraulic fluid is selectively routed to the first hydraulic circuit that includes the PTO thereby rendering the piece of hydraulic equipment functionally operable until the hydraulic fluid is rerouted back to the second hydraulic circuit lacking the PTO.
As the rerouting device is housed in a tamper proof casing and only authorized personnel have the proper credentials to communicate with the rerouting device from the control center, unauthorized use of company equipment can be virtually eliminated. Furthermore, as the rerouting device includes a means for tracking the system, an owner of machinery with the present invention installed thereon can track the exact location of any such machinery at anytime.
An objective of the present invention, is to provide a system that will prevent the unauthorized use or access to machinery with hydraulic components.
Another objective of the present invention, is to provide a system that can provide a means for tracking the location of machinery with hydraulic components.
Another objective of the present invention, is to provide a system that can be controlled and monitored remotely using wireless signal technology.
Yet a further objective of the present invention, is to provide a system that is tamperproof to ensure that the system is not compromised.
Information relevant to attempts to address these problems can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 7,002,465 (hereinafter the “465 patent”) and United States Patent Publication 2005/0204587 (hereinafter the “587 publication”). However, each one of these reference suffers from one or more of the following disadvantages. The references fail to address a security and tracking system that can be monitored and controlled remotely to selectively re-rout hydraulic fluid about an alternate hydraulic circuit to prevent use of the equipment.
For the foregoing reasons there exists a need for a security and tracking system to prevent unauthorized use or access to machinery with hydraulic components comprising essentially a rerouting device housed in a tamperproof casing, that comprises inter alia a selective re-directional valve that can be remotely activated and monitored using wireless signal technology to direct hydraulic fluid to at least two hydraulic circuits, a control center that communicates via wireless signal technology to the rerouting device, a first hydraulic circuit that comprises a source of fluid, a fluid pumping means, the rerouting device, and a power take off device (PTO) and a second hydraulic circuit that comprises the source of fluid, the fluid pumping means, and the rerouting device.